Join us for this special Sauce Celebrity Chef Series event. Marcus Samuelsson’s memoir, Yes, chef, chronicles Samuelsson's journey from his grandmother's kitchen to his arrival in New York City, where his outsized talent and ambition finally come together at Aquavit, earning him a New York Times three-star rating at the age of twenty-four. Samuelsson will read from his memoir while guests enjoy a meal inspired by the book. Tickets are $75 and include admission for one, a copy of Yes, chef, and dinner, and can be purchased here.

In "Yes, chef," Chef Samuelsson recounts the incredible story that lead to his becoming a renowned chef. It follows his journey from the Ethiopian hospital where he lost his mother to tuberculosis, to the shores of Sweden where he fished and learned to cook with his grandmother, through stints in French kitchens and cruise ships, and the reception of a New York Times 3-star rating by age 24. It culminates in Harlem with the opening of Red Rooster, a beloved restaurant that brings together his wealth of experience and culinary heritage. It's a true American Dream story, one where hard work and passion-- passion for food and the places you come from-- allow a boy from an African village to become a New York City Chef and restaurateur.

This is a ticketed event. The ticket gets you a copy of the book, which you will be able to have signed, and a reception that includes wine and hors d'oeuvres inspired by some of Chef Samuelssons creations.

Tickets will be will-call only. Please scroll down to purchase.

**PLEASE PROVIDE THE NAME OF THE TICKET HOLDER(S) IN THE ORDER COMMENTS SECTION WHEN YOU'RE CHECKING OUT**

Yes, chef chronicles Samuelsson's remarkable journey from his grandmother's humble kitchen in Sweden to cutthroat restaurants in Switzerland and France, from his grueling stints on cruise ships to his arrival in New York City, and finally to his own restaurant in Harlem. RSVP to editor@feastSTL.com.

From the winner of Top Chef: Masters and the James Beard Foundation Award-winning chef of NYC’s Red Rooster Harlem comes an inspiring memoir of one man’s unique struggle to find a place for himself in the kitchen and in the world.

Join world-renowned Chef Marcus Samuelsson at Chef John Besh's Restaurant August for a special dinner & booksigning featuring Marcus' just released Yes, chef: A Memoir.

These two James Beard award-winning chefs, Marcus Samuelsson and John Besh, have crafted a menu for the event blending their own distinctive culinary styles to pay to homage to New Orleans chef Leah Chase, whom Marcus names in the book as his mentor.

The four course prix-fixe menu includes dishes such as Gravlax on Pumpernickel and Louisiana Popcorn Rice with Stewed Okra, Heirloom Tomatoes and Gulf Shrimp. To make reservations, $200 per person, including tax, gratuity and a signed first edition of Yes, chef, please call or email Christy Bradley the Besh Restaurant Group at 504-565-5482 or cbradley@chefjohnbesh.com.

Additional signed books may be purchased at the event from Octavia Books or by contacting Octavia Books in advance at 504-899-READ (7323) or by clicking here.

It begins with a simple ritual: Every Saturday afternoon, a boy who loves to cook walks to his grandmother’s house and helps her prepare a roast chicken for dinner. The grandmother is Swedish, a retired domestic. The boy is Ethiopian and adopted, and he will grow up to become the world-renowned chef Marcus Samuelsson. This book is his love letter to food and family in all its manifestations.

Marcus Samuelsson was only three years old when he, his mother, and his sister—all battling tuberculosis—walked seventy-five miles to a hospital in the Ethiopian capital city of Addis Adaba. Tragically, his mother succumbed to the disease shortly after she arrived, but Marcus and his sister recovered, and one year later they were welcomed into a loving middle-class white family in Göteborg, Sweden. It was there that Marcus’s new grandmother, Helga, sparked in him a lifelong passion for food and cooking with her pan-fried herring, her freshly baked bread, and her signature roast chicken. From a very early age, there was little question what Marcus was going to be when he grew up.

Yes, chef chronicles Marcus Samuelsson’s remarkable journey from Helga’s humble kitchen to some of the most demanding and cutthroat restaurants in Switzerland and France, from his grueling stints on cruise ships to his arrival in New York City, where his outsize talent and ambition finally come together at Aquavit, earning him a coveted New York Times three-star rating at the age of twenty-four. But Samuelsson’s career of “chasing flavors,” as he calls it, had only just begun—in the intervening years, there have been White House state dinners, career crises, reality show triumphs and, most important, the opening of the beloved Red Rooster in Harlem. At Red Rooster, Samuelsson has fulfilled his dream of creating a truly diverse, multiracial dining room—a place where presidents and prime ministers rub elbows with jazz musicians, aspiring artists, bus drivers, and nurses. It is a place where an orphan from Ethiopia, raised in Sweden, living in America, can feel at home.

With disarming honesty and intimacy, Samuelsson also opens up about his failures—the price of ambition, in human terms—and recounts his emotional journey, as a grown man, to meet the father he never knew. Yes, chef is a tale of personal discovery, unshakable determination, and the passionate, playful pursuit of flavors—one man’s struggle to find a place for himself in the kitchen, and in the world.

A James Beard Award–winning chef and author of several cookbooks, Marcus Samuelsson has appeared on Today, Charlie Rose, Iron Chef, and Top Chef Masters, where he took first place. In 1995, for his work at Aquavit, Samuelsson became the youngest chef ever to receive a three-star review from The New York Times. His newest restaurant, Red Rooster, recently opened in Harlem, where he lives with his wife.

In celebration of the publication of his new memoir Yes, chef, world-renowned chef Marcus Samuelsson is hosting a series of guest dinners throughout America.

Please join us this afternoon as BookPeople, Rene Ortiz of La Condesa and Marcus Samuelsson of Red Rooster come together to host a collaborative lunch inspired by Marcus' book Yes, chef. Marcus will speak at this lunch, sign books and take questions from those who attend.

Tickets are required to attend this lunch and are available only through La Condesa. BUY TICKETS HERE.

BookPeople is NOT selling tickets for this event. All questions regarding tickets should be directed to La Condesa: 512-499-0300